How many people were sent to jail for non-payment of fines, for which they had been subject to a means test enquiry, in each year since 199…

The information currently available on the numbers of receptions into penal establishments for non-payment of fines is given in the table below. This information cannot distinguish those who had been subject to a means test enquiry. However, it is believed that the majority of fined offenders will have attended Means or Fines Enquiry Courts prior to extracts for imprisonment being enforced.Fine default receptions to penal establishments, Scotland1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 19981
8,875 | 7,509 | 8,999 | 10,720 | 8,400
Notes:1. During 1998 there were at least 20 weekdays for which information was unavailable. Any warrant information entered on these days could be lost. This means that receptions of prisoners serving only a day or two, such as fine defaulters, may not be counted. Because of this, the currently published figure of 8,400 fine default receptions may be under-estimated by a factor of up to 10%. Revised figures will be published on 30 August 2000 in the forthcoming News Release "Provisional Prison Statistics, Scotland, 1999".